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but she was also extremely satisfied with the way everything turned out.

"Kira, my goodness. What are you even doing awake?"

"I just couldn’t sleep." Kira shrugged, feigning indifference, and pulled out a chair for her mom. Not a second later, thumps signaled her dad was descending into the kitchen too.

"Smells amazing, honey. What’s the occasion?" her father asked, sitting down next to her mother to dig into the food.

"Nothing, I just couldn’t sleep. Can’t a girl do something nice for her family once in a while?"

"Not on a school day. This is more of a Sunday morning thing for you," her dad said with a mouth already full of food. Kira assured him she was just in a good mood and happy for the amazing, even if adoptive, parents she had. They talked lightly while they ate, until Kira’s mother went to wake up Chloe. Within half an hour, Kira was hugging everyone goodbye, holding on for just a second too long, and assuring her parents that she was just going to quickly clean up and be on her way to school.

When the door closed, Kira raced back to the kitchen, splashed water on her face, and tried her best not to cry. She leaned over the sink, one hand on either side, looking out at her sunlit backyard and decided to just let the tears come anyway. Once started, they were impossible to control. She moved slowly, picking up the dirty dishes, putting them in the dishwasher, finishing the orange juice, and putting the leftovers in a Ziploc bag. The mundane tasks gave her something to concentrate on, but when they were done, she went up to her room and actually put her focus on what would happen.

Diana would come and attack her. That was certain. That Kira would not be able to stop her for what might as well be hours was another certainty. The only unknown was Tristan. Had Diana managed to turn him? Would he come looking for her blood or Diana’s?

Kira sighed and reached for the drawings of his she had kept hidden in her bookshelf. All were of her. She had a collection of these portraits now. Kira looked through them until she reached the one Tristan had crafted when he had been secretly watching her in Battery Park. She took note of the flowing skirt and tank top she had worn and searched for them in her closet. She opted for a long-sleeve shirt instead, because even in South Carolina, December brought cool air.

On the drive home from Luke’s, Kira had tried to think of a game plan, and like a typical girl, the outfit was a huge part of that. Would she go hardcore like Buffy the Vampire Slayer in nineties cargo pants and a tank top, maybe with a bomber jacket? Would she play it innocent to make Diana think of her as helpless and maybe gain some small upper hand? Or, would she appeal to Tristan and the human parts of him she knew existed? He was her last hope. Unless Tristan could fight Diana, Kira knew she was doomed, so she decided to wear the same thing she had worn when they had shared their first kiss and when he had first decided to open up to her and to let her inside his secret world.

By the time Kira had finished brushing her hair and getting ready, Luke had arrived. He came dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, deciding to downplay the situation just like she had. Kira tried to change her morose mood, but when she saw his face and the worry lines creasing his forehead, she allowed herself to be sad.

"What did the council say?" Kira asked as she led Luke through her house and out to the back steps where they had decided to wait for Diana to make her move.

"They said we should run. Ordered it in fact, because of how dangerous your capture would be. I told them to go to hell."

Kira laughed. Luke always had been a charmer. "I bet they loved that."

"Actually, I hung up as they were screaming at me. Assuming we survive, we’ll definitely have some things to answer to."

"No point to live if not dangerously," Kira replied as she sat down to wait.

"When did that become your motto?"

"About the time I moved to Charleston." Kira let her tone become darkly humorous. Had she listened to Luke in the beginning, none of this would be happening. But it still all seemed worth the risk. She knew Tristan would be trouble from the start, but she guessed with boys, you never really could know how much trouble until it was too late and you loved them enough not to care about the consequences.

"If you could take it all away and go back to New York, would you?" Luke shifted his gaze from one of her eyes to the other, earnestly searching for the truth in her answer.

"No. I suppose I would have been a target no matter where I was. At least, down here in South Carolina, I had you."

"Have, you have me." He reached out his hand.

Kira squeezed it, letting him know she loved his support, but then released him. "I wish you would go and save yourself Luke. We don’t know what’s going to happen here, and I don’t want you to die for me. Please, just go."

"You know I won’t." He settled down, stretching his hands up toward the sky, acting brave and like he had no worries in the world.

And just like that, there were no words left to say. Kira knew Luke loved her, and he knew she loved him too. She could beg him to leave and fall into hysterics, but it would be useless and mentally draining. So instead, the two of them sat in silence, watching the sun rise higher, waiting for it to disappear.

 

 

Chapter Fifteen

 

Before long, Kira heard a rustling in the trees. Luke did too and he sat up from the hammock, instantly alert. They moved as one person to the edge of her porch, four hands resting on the white painted banister, searching the woods at the back of her house for any movement.

Out of thin air, Diana appeared in the middle of her yard. She was dressed in a sequined, black party dress, one that reminded Kira of the pictures she’d seen of flappers in her history books. Her black hair flowed freely in the breeze, and her skin was like harsh marble, starkly white in the sunlight. Her sudden appearance struck Kira more like a magic trick than a natural movement. She had little experience with the special powers vampires possessed, and Diana seemed faster than even the wind. Luke’s muscles tensed beside her. Diana was far quicker than they could hope to be, but Kira knew a lot of it was for show, to intimidate her and Luke before the real fight even began.

"My dearest little Kira, how are you on this fine winter’s morning?" The words rolled from Diana’s tongue. She knew she had complete control over the situation, and she lazily walked forward, trying to stir fear in Kira’s heart.

"Diana," Luke said tersely. Kira remained silent, not wanting to give Diana the satisfaction of a response.

"Well, what a welcome. I hardly think you’re even excited to see me."

"What gave us away?" Luke let the biting remark out evenly. Kira recognized his self-defensive sarcasm and used it to give her strength. She would resist for as long as possible, just like Luke planned to do.

Kira let a small flame rise on her palm, letting her power heal any weakness Luke and she carried, before firing it at lightning speed toward Diana’s face. It struck before Diana had time to move, and she was thrown backward as if punched. Kira let herself have a moment of satisfaction. She and Luke knew some cool tricks, too.

Diana stood slowly, her hand to her cheek and malice in her eyes. Kira watched her battle to keep her emotions in check, and Diana’s weakness became all too clear. She wanted to draw this out and make Kira suffer. So Kira wanted to make it as quick as possible. She fired another shot, a long stream of fire she knew in her bones was meant to kill. She heard Diana whimper in the onslaught and watched as Diana retreated back into the trees and out of Kira’s range.

"Bitch!" Diana yelled from the forest. "Do you have a death wish? I’m here to kill you, you know. Do you really want to egg me on?"

"I think I’m the one who almost killed you, Diana. Care to come out for another go?" Kira found her voice and her defiance. She was ready to fight, eager for it almost.

"I hope you don’t think your boyfriend is going to save you, little Kira." Diana rushed out again, her calm demeanor returned but her hair clearly worse for the wear. The imperfection gave Kira a jolt of pleasure.

"I can handle myself, thanks."

"And what about when you can’t spit that little flame of yours and chase me away? What then?" Kira shrugged, playing it cool, but was actually wondering the same thing herself.

As if on command, Jerome and John walked out of the forest slowly, with Tristan chained between them. Kira gasped. She couldn’t help herself.

Tristan was shirtless and covered in blood. The streaks started at various points of his chest and arms, flowing from wounds that had since closed up because of his quick healing. Only another vampire’s nails or teeth could have caused that damage. Jerome and John had broken his arms, the same way they had in the auditorium so long ago, and Kira knew they had only been able to catch him with those cheap tricks. They had twisted Tristan’s limbs free of their sockets, tying his forearms to the stick they were using to carry him forward. His feet were chained too, but he still tried to put some weight on them, refusing to let his former friends drag him helplessly along the ground. He was trying to be strong, even though his face was the only thing not trapped in constraints.

When his eyes met hers, Kira wanted to rush to Tristan. They were full of pain, both physical and emotional, and Kira knew he was killing himself over his failure. He had been her last hope and though she hated to admit it, the will to fight left her a little bit.

Diana saw the opening. "What? Did you think he would come in and save the day? I told you already, you stupid girl, he is going to kill you, and he is going to like it. Isn’t that the promise I made?"

Diana walked in front of Tristan and held his chin in her hand, forcing him to look at her. With her other hand, she slapped him across the cheek, and Kira heard the crunch of his neck breaking and saw his limbs go fully limp. Jerome and John didn’t even flinch. Tristan groaned, trying hard to clench his lips together to keep a scream from escaping. Even vampires could feel pain, especially at the brutality of their own kind.

A minute later, his neck snapped back in line. Diana leaned back for another slap.

"No!" Kira yelled. Diana stopped her hand, just barely. More than anything, Kira wanted to throw her fire like a huge blanket, smoldering them, but it was too risky with Tristan so weak and so close to the others.

"How sweet. A lover’s plea." Diana clapped like a little child playing with her favorite toy. Everything was working out just as she had planned.

And as if on cue, the sky darkened just one shade, but it was enough. All six of them looked up, despite the blinding light, to take note of that small sliver of black piercing the sun's surface. There wasn’t much time before her powers would be useless. Five minutes, maybe. Kira started forward, but Luke grabbed her hand, stopping her.

"You can’t save him now. We have to get out of here," he whispered.

"Yes, run. It’s so much more exciting that way," Diana responded, hearing Luke’s request and playing off of his fears. Kira looked up again; already more of the sun had been covered. She needed to use the time she had.

With all the control Kira could gather, she shot flames at Diana, John, and Jerome and amazingly pushed them back. Jerome and John dropped Tristan in their shock, and Kira broke free of Luke to run to Tristan’s side. He managed to get onto his knees and she sunk down to her own,